Timber › Notes › 2.1 Structural considerations

2.1 Structural considerations

Organisation: sole trader (owner makes all decisions, unlimited liability, e.g. a custom furniture maker), partnership (2+ owners share decisions and profits), company (Pty Ltd or public; limited liability, more capital, e.g. a large board manufacturer).
Management roles and levels: top (owners/CEO: strategy), middle (production, sales and finance managers), front-line (supervisors, leading hands). Hierarchical = many levels, specialised departments, formal control, slow decisions. Flat = few levels, owner-manager, fast flexible decisions, multi-skilled staff.
Marketing and advertising: product, price, place, promotion. Large firms: catalogues, showrooms, TV/online campaigns, trade fairs, retail chains. Small firms: website, social media, word of mouth, portfolio, markets, commissions.
Production and efficiency: job (one-off custom), batch (runs of the same design), mass/continuous production. Efficiency = output per input (labour hours, material yield, machine utilisation). Improved by CNC, jigs, production layout, just-in-time ordering, nesting software.
Restructuring: changing ownership, management levels, departments, layout, technology or staffing (downsizing, outsourcing, merging). Short-term disruption and retraining; long-term efficiency and quality gains.
Quality control (QC): inspection at each stage (moisture content checks, dimension checks, finish inspection), standards (e.g. Australian Standards for furniture strength and stability), quality assurance systems, traceability, customer feedback.

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